On a recent sunny day, hikers stood at an entry point on the Appalachian Trail near Hawk Mountain in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Some rested and drank water as they prepared to continue hiking on the 3,508-kilometer walking path. The Appalachian Trail stretches from Maine in the north to Georgia in the south. One of the hikers is Mario Kovach, a war veteran. On his right arm are the last names of many soldiers permanently written, or tattooed -- Solesbee, Bell, Schwartz, Seidler, Miller, Moss -- just to name a few. They were all members of the U.S. Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. And they all died in battle. They had the dangerous job of defusing bombs. That was also Kovach’s job for 20 years in the Air Force. Kovach retired in 2018. He served five tours of duty in Afghanistan without serious injury to his body. However, his mental health suffered. So, he has been treating his mental health on the trail and in other places in nature. He shared his experiences of healing on the trails with a reporter from the Associated Press. “Nature is nothing that man controls,” Kovach said. He added that it is both the natural environment and the peace and quiet that has helped him heal.